Trouble brewing with train station restaurant

The owner of the restaurant serving Tinley Park's Oak Park Avenue Metra station faces a back tax bill of nearly $80,000

October 10, 2012|By Andy Grimm, Chicago Tribune reporter

The owner of the restaurant serving Tinley Park's Oak Park Avenue Metra station faces a back tax bill of nearly $80,000.

Cavallini's In The Park, the restaurant that has leased space in the village-owned downtown station since it opened in 2004, has never paid its tax bill. All told, the bill has reached $76,830, not including late penalties of 1.5 percent per month.

The station is tax-exempt, but the county does assess property taxes on the portion of the building that houses the for-profit restaurant, and the village's lease agreement requires the restaurant operator to pay any property taxes, Village Treasurer Brad Bettenhausen said.

However, Bettenhausen said, Cook County for years sent the bill to the wrong address, allowing a sizeable tax debt to pile up before the village became aware this year, Bettenhausen said.

"The (bills) were basically going into a black hole because the county had incorrect addressing information," Bettenhausen said.

Cavallini's owner, Tinley Park resident Norman Elftmann, said the village notified him about the back bills this summer, and he still has not received formal notice or an exact figure on what he owes.

While Elftmann acknowledges his lease agreement mentions he is liable for any property taxes, neither he nor the original owner, whom he bought out in 2005, ever got a bill and assumed taxes were included in the $700 monthly rent. The village also collects additional rent payments equal to 2 percent of gross sales.

"I didn't know Cook County could draw a tax bill for leased property," said Elftmann, comparing his situation to someone renting a house.

"I can't afford to pay that bill. That would be like doubling my rent, and I don't make that much money here. They're squeezing me out."

Over the years, Elftmann said village officials have complained to him about not staying open longer than the current 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. hours he keeps. Elftmann points out that he only has customers during the morning commuter rush, and notes Metra doesn't even staff a station agent to sell tickets after 12:55 p.m.

Ordinarily, if a property owner falls more than a year behind on their tax bill, the property is automatically put up for auction at the county tax sale. Since Cavallini's is on village-owned property, it didn't go up for sale.

Bettenhausen said he and village attorneys are negotiating with the county Treasurer's office. He did not say how the back balance might be paid.

"There's a possibility (the village) will pay something," Bettenhausen said. "We're in a negotiation. We're aware of the situation and we're working on it. And that's really all I can say at this time."

Bettenhausen also said the village is looking at arrangements that might spare a vendor who would operate in a much larger space in the village's new 80th Avenue Metra station.

The village said it had struck a deal with Isn't It Sweet to begin selling gourmet cakes, pastries and coffee in the building this fall, but the business owner pulled out not long after the deal was announced.